Origin Energy increased its interest in the Otway gas project to 67 per cent following completion of the acquisition of an additional 36 per cent interest from Woodside Energy.
The acquisition was initially announced in November 2009 with an effective date of 1 July, 2009. The purchase price has been adjusted for the estimated net impact of capital expenditure, operating costs and earnings to completion, taking the price to $520 million. This is subject to a further adjustment on the settlement of final joint venture accounts up to the completion date.
“We are pleased to increase our interest in this project as the asset and surrounding exploration acreage is well known to us and complements our retail, generation and upstream interests across the region,” Origin managing director, Grant King said.
“The acquisition includes production licenses which contain the Thylacine and Geographe fields and associated offshore production facilities, pipelines and onshore gas processing plant, together with adjacent exploration permits.
“The increased interest provides additional earnings from sales of natural gas, LPG and condensate extracted from the liquids-rich gas stream, as well as providing greater access to the growth potential and exploration upside of the area.
“This complements our existing operations in the Bass Basin province to the east where we have recently had success with appraisal of the liquids-rich Trefoil field and discovery of gas and oil in the Rockhopper field,” Mr King said.
The acquisition was undertaken through its subsidiary Origin Energy Resources.
